Photographs, sketches and models

1. A photograph or sketch may be admitted in evidence provided a witness (not necessarily, but preferably, the photographer/maker) gives evidence of its accuracy. Photographs should each be identified individually in a statement to which they are exhibited, unless an album is produced as one exhibit, when an index should describe them. The statement should say when and where the photographs were taken and that they show what the inspector saw.

2. Both film and digital images may be used as evidence. For guidance on ensuring the evidential integrity of digital images, see Evidence that may assist your investigation in the Investigation section and Evidential use of photographs on the intranet.

3. Models may be useful to assist the court in understanding the events of the case, for example, the layout of plant. If you can agree these with the other side, they can be used not as evidence but as an aid to interpretation of the evidence. Otherwise you must call as a witness the person who made the model to testify that it is a true representation of the situation depicted.